Salvation Army continues delivering meals after Irma

Carl Lundy and Daryl Hettick, maintenance workers from the Salvation Army, hand area commander Major Rob Vincent boxes of food as they stock a mobile kitchen for a trip to Texas to provide aid in the wake of Hurricane Harvey on Aug. 28 in Jacksville. The Salvation Army has now turned it’s attention to Florida in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

With limited supplies and resources for assessing local needs, Salvation Army units from around Florida continued to feed and shelter residents even in the middle of Hurricane Irma’s plowing winds and rains.

“The Cavalry is coming,” said Lt. Col. Ken Luyk, Divisional Commander for The Salvation Army of Florida. “We’re all in this fight together and you aren’t alone.”

All 32 Florida Salvation Army canteens (mobile kitchens) are expected to be deployed throughout Florida, serving residents in the most need. Tallahassee’s canteen and team has been serving in Tampa for several days. An additional 24 mobile kitchens from across the eastern seaboard are making their way to Florida to help with the Hurricane Irma relief and recovery efforts.

Mobile kitchens are prepared to serve up to 1,500 meals per day. The Salvation Army also has two semi-truck size field kitchens capable of making more than 20,000 meals per day.

All 47 Salvation Army units – from Pensacola to south Florida – are assisting and serving residents in need.

To date, The Salvation Army in Florida has served more than 30,000 meals since it began its Hurricane Irma response on Sept. 8, serving in shelters and alongside emergency responders in preparation for Irma. The Salvation Army of Tallahassee has been preparing thousands of these meals to assist Emergency Management in coordinating meals for residents of local shelters, who evacuated locally, and from the entire state.

“As always, the community stepped up to make our mission possible. Many people, however, do not realize how this can affect individuals in long term recovery. We learned how to become a resilient community during Hurricane Hermine just last year,” said Lieutenant Ryan Meo, Corps Officer for The Salvation Army of Tallahassee. “We look forward to continuing to serve the residents in our community and the first responders who are working around the clock in response to Hurricane Irma. We will continue to provide hot meals, snacks, and drinks as long as they need us.”

The best way to help survivors and relief workers is to make a financial contribution. Monetary donations allow disaster responders to immediately meet the specific needs of disaster survivors as the need continues to be assessed.

The Salvation Army asks people who want to help those directly affected by the storm to visit helpsalvationarmy.org, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY or text “Storm” to 51555.

At this point, in-kind donations are not being accepted. Used clothing and used furniture are seldom required during an incident. However, these gifts are vitally important in supporting the day-to-day work of your local Salvation Army. Please consider giving these items to your local Salvation Army Family Store by dialing 850-575-9798.